Hire one of most important in LA Tech history

Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Todd Monken accepted the Southern Miss head coaching position Monday after being a candidate for the Louisiana Tech job. Monken?s Cowboys offense was top five nationally in multiple categories.

Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Todd Monken accepted the Southern Miss job Monday and will be leading a Golden Eagles' program that is expected to be a Tech rival in the new-look Conference USA starting next season.

Monken was considered a top candidate for the Tech job after spending two seasons in Ruston as the running backs coach (2001) and receivers coach (2002).

Louisiana Tech isn't commenting on the coaching search process of one of the most important hires in its athletics history, so it's unclear how far discussions progressed between Monken and Tech.

But to borrow a Twitter phrase, the Tech football program is "trending" in the right direction.

Less than one month ago, Tech controlled its destiny for a BCS bowl before losses to Utah State and San Jose State.

Tech's last two head coaches landed jobs in BCS conferences. Sonny Dykes is enjoying his new digs at Cal while Derek Dooley assumed control in 2010 of once-national power Tennessee, who won a national championship in 1998.

Both Dykes and Dooley were assistants before taking Tech job, and for rising stars in the coaching profession, Tech has emerged as a locale that can elevate a coach to a prime coaching position.

In this unstable college football climate, upward mobility is key.

But the Bulldogs not playing in a bowl game after a 9-3 season could create potentially long-term problems.

Are coaching candidates, or recruits for that matter, wary of the decision making in the school's administration?

Being a member of a crumbling Western Athletic Conference with only one bowl tie-in put the school in a precarious position that the Bulldogs likely won't face in Conference USA (five bowl tie-ins) next season, but Tech didn't secure a bowl invitation after delaying a decision on the Independence Bowl.

When schools hire a coach at rapid speed - Western Kentucky took less than three days to hire former Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino - the smallest factors can stick out in relatively equal programs.

Not playing in a bowl cost Tech 15 extra practices for a team that is losing 31 seniors, including starting quarterback Colby Cameron and center Stephen Warner.

Backup quarterback Zach Griffith (sophomore) was 3-of-6 passing for 31 yards with one rushing touchdown this season, the only stats of his Tech career. Practice time would have been valuable for a team that will have new faces in key roles next season.

The foundation that created Tech's success the past two seasons for a 17-8 record is mostly gone from a coaching and player standpoint.

Making the wrong head coaching hire in this situation would literally hit the reset button on any momentum gained in the Dykes era if not the Dooley era.

While the candidate list appears to be narrowing, one name that has recently surfaced is Toledo head coach Matt Campbell.

In Campbell's first season as head coach, Toledo is 9-3 and is playing Utah State in the Potato Bowl.

Campbell has been part of the Rockets' rebuilding as an offensive coordinator in 2010 and 2011 (17-9 combined record) and the offensive line coach in 2009 when Toledo won five games.

Toledo's offense has been near the top of the Mid-American Conference since Campbell's arrival, scoring 32.9 points this season and averaging 456 yards per game (39th and 28th nationally, respectively).

Whether it's Campbell, Texas A&M offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury (also being considered for the Texas Tech head coaching job) or some name yet to surface publicly, Tech needs to make a solid decision.

Becoming a force in a wide-open Conference USA depends on it.

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Hire one of most important in LA Tech history

Cross one name off the Louisiana Tech head coach candidate list.Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Todd Monken accepted the Southern Miss job Monday and will be leading a Golden Eagles' program